Improvement in carpet-stretchers



A. D. WILLIAMS.

Carpet-Stretcher.

Patented May 25, I875.

.No. I63-,7I2.

THE GRAPHIC C0.PHOTDLITH.39&4I PARK PLACEJLY.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED WILLIAMS, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN CARPET-STRETCHERS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 163,712, dated May 25, 1875; application filed October 9, 1874.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED D. WILLIAMS, of Boston, Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carpet- Stretchers and I do hereby declare the following to be a correct description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure lis a front elevation of the standard. Fig. 2 is a similar' elevation of the forceps, with the blades closed. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the standard and forceps united.

The same letter marks the same part wherever it occurs.

The nature of my invention consists in the union, in a carpet -stretcher, of an upright standard and a pair of forceps or bent levers, having at their extremities toothed jaws for clamping the edge of the carpet, and forming, when closed, a single lever, whose fulcrum coincides with that of the separate blades, all constructed and operating in the manner hereinafter more particularly set forth.

In the drawings, S indicates the standard, forked at the lower end, the prongs j j being serrated at the points, as shown, to enable the standard to take a flrm hold of the floor. To this standard is attached at f the forceps or pair of bent levers, which have the pivot j' for their common fulcrum. The longer arms g g of these levers I usually make about two feet in length, and the shorter arms h h', about four inches. The longer arms are so fashioned as to fit into each other when brought together, so as to form a convenient handle for the closed forceps, as shown in Fig. 2. The shorter arms of the levers are provided with clamping-jaws t' i', serrated on their inner faces, to take a secure hold on the carpet. The length of the shorter arms h h is a little less than the distance from the fulcrum f to the ends of the prongs j j, in order that when the forceps-handle g g is brought down into the position e, shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, the jaws t' c" Will be brought against the prongs jj, and directly under the standard S, as shown.

The construction of the standard is clearly represented in the drawing. I make it about two feet and a half long, with a cross-piece at top and a cushion, c, at the back, to prevent injury to the wall when the standard is in posit-ion. The forked portion of the standard is provided with lugs l l, which receive the pivot j", by means of which the forceps are attached to the standard. A dog or pawl, a, (see Figs. 1 and 3,) is attached to the lower part of the standard, and, when the forceps are depressed, engages with the teeth of a ratchet, r, on the back of arm h, to hold the forceps down and the jaws closed till the carpet is fastened in place.

I claim as my invention, in a carpetstretcherl. The combination of the standard S, provided with the serrated prongs jj, with the bent levers g h g h', turning on the fulcrumf, and having the clamping-jaws t' c", and constructed so as to fold together in the manner described, all as specied.

2. The double-lever forceps, constructed as described, having the lever h of the upper clam pin g-j awz'provided with ratchet-teeth, and the dog or pawl a attached to the standard S, and located so as to engage with the ratchetteeth on the heel of lever h, and hold the forceps down and the clampingjaws closed, all in the manner set forth.

ALFRED DAW'ESON WILLIAMS, M. B.

Witnesses:

EDWARD WATTS, HUGE ROBINSON. 

